Septic tank body "a 30-year-old homicide" say police

POLICE are treating the human remains found in a septic tank in Brighton as a 30-year-old homicide.

They confirmed this during a media conference this morning.

A jogging shoe was among the remains found in the disused tank at the back of the Autism Queensland education facility on North Road on Tuesday morning.

Detective Acting Superintendent Mick O'Dowd said the remains looked to be the body of a man and was believed to belong to one of a handful of missing persons from the 1980s.

"We are looking at a number of people we think may have gone missing from that area," he said.

"We are treating it as a homicide at this time as some things look a bit unusual in the pit.

"It's unusual because of the location in the first place.

"Someone would have known the pit was there and probably unused.

"As of this morning the examination of that pit is nearly completed and most of the skeletal remains have been removed.

"Examination for DNA, as you understand in this situation, will be time consuming."

Police walk into an autistic children's primary school in Brighton.

The remains have been moved to the John Tonge Centre - a morgue at Mt Gravatt - and will be examined tomorrow.

Detective Acting Superintendent O'Dowd said because of the passage of time some of the members of missing persons' families would be quite elderly.

Police are seeking help from the community with any information from the 1980s.

"It's quite unusual to see a thing like this happen in Brighton," Detective Acting Superintendent O'Dowd said.

"Any small thing anyone can think of would be good, particularly with the amount of time that has passed.

"If they can think back to a time about 30 years ago in Brighton and Sandgate if they saw anything suspicious, please let us know."

Anyone with information which they believe could be relevant to the investigation is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Detective Superintendent Mick O'Dowd is appealing to the bayside community to come forward with any information on suspicious activity from 30 years ago relating to the human remains found in Brighton.Renee McKeown

Bones found in septic tank may belong to murder victim

BONES discovered in a disused septic could belong to a murder victim killed more than 20 years ago.

Detectives are investigating whether the male bones discovered in a pit at the Autism Queensland site in Brighton, on Brisbane's north, belong to a man who disappeared either in the late 80s or early 90s.

The remains are thought to belong to a man in his late 20s, or early 30s.

The Courier-Mail reports the remains were yet to be pulled from the tank on Wednesday afternoon.

Once retrieved, they would be sent for examination and ideally, identification.

Police Acting Detective Superintendent Mick O'Dowd said the detached Queenslander house, used by Autism Queensland administrators, told reports the man had been in the pit "for quite a number of years.

"We don't exactly know until scientific examination has taken place," Supt O'Dowd said on Tuesday.

Police experts would attempt to find DNA on the remains to help with the identification.